Shortening Driver shaft ?

I have a question about shortening the shaft on my driver? I am
getting ready to regrip and I figured this would be the time to
do it. I have a r580 and last year I really didn't have any
consistancy with it and I read in another forum about someone
shortening their shaft and it helped a bunch with consistancy.
Just looking for some thoughts on this subject.

Hi Adam
My opinion for what it is worth. I had a shocking slice with my 1
& 3 wood. Nothing I tried, grip, address, swing etc seemed to
be able to remedy it.
One day I tried moving closer to the ball and therefore moved my
hands down the grip and actually had the tip of my right thumb
sitting just on the metal shaft !.
BIMBO !!! ooops read BINGO - straight down the guts ! Could it be
???
Tried it again and again and yes it seems it was common knowledge
that by shortening the distance between your hands and the
clubhead you gain more control over the club head and it's
movemenet (excuse me if thats not exactly what it does but thats
my impression of it). So before shortening it - try that
excercise.
Grip down the shaft a bit and try. If it improves your drives etc
then surely the benefit is there to be had !!!!!!!!! :mrgreen:

The 580 has a 45.5 inch shaft to make you think you can hit big
drives. Get it cut down to 44.5 inches and you will be astounded
by the difference it makes. Butt trimming of the shaft is no
problem and will not effect shaft stiffness. You will however
alter the swingweigth by 4 or 6 points (lead tape may be needed).

, drivers now are being built with longer shafts to give us more
distance. To compensate for the longer shaft, bigger heads are
being used to be more forgiving on the higher percentage of
off-centre hits the longer shafts create.

Thus a long shaft with a large head, should be just as easy to
hit as a regular shaft with a traditional size head.

So yes, if you reduce the length of your shaft, you will decrease
the % of off-centre hits.

But the point is, that if you are having trouble with consistency
of this club now, its not the longer shaft causing your problems,
its the

wrong

shaft for you.

I suggest you take yourself to a Pro that is also a clubmaker and
ask him to assess your needs properly. You might find that a gram
or two of lead tape is all you need, or perhaps a more suitable
shaft.

I think that the characterisation above is a bit simplistic. I
feel the issue with longer driver shafts is predominantly a
leverage question. A bad swing will produce a ball that goes
further left or right than the same bad swing with a shorter
shaft. The longer shaft in any club the more sound the golf swing
needs to be -this obviously is totally against what the OEM's
are doing in selling big forgiving drivers to average golfers but
with long shafts.

The promise is a long forgiving driver. The reality is drives
that go all over the place.

Shorten the shaft and get on a swing monitor (pre and post).
There will be little or no discernable difference in swing/ball
speed. My swing speed drops 1-2 mph for each half inch roughly
-but I hit the middle of the club more often = longer average
drives with a shorter shaft.

Tiger plays with a 43.5" shaft. For consistancy. 5 years ago
the average length was 44" and now OEMs are around 45".
Bigger heads have made the longer shafts easier to hit but not
always in the middle if you do not have a consistant swing.

A shorter driver is much easier to control. Just look at how many
poeple can kill thier 3 wood and not hit their driver.